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Help! Is 5 a levels worth it? How heavy is the workload!?

Sup guys!
Need help regarding A levels

Got my GCSE results yesterday & I got 10A*s and 3As . I applied at a Grammar School and have a place however I will be doing Maths, Chemistry, Biology, Economics&Business (combined) and an EPQ.

Now I've already done AS Maths and got an A. So hopefully that'll finish off nicely in year 12 but is there any point in me doing the EPQ? For people who have already done it has it helped you with University Applications or is getting the compulsory grades enough?

BTW. I''m looking to do Optometry

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Reply 1
Not worth it. The sciences and maths are the hardest ones and the work load will be ridiculous.

Better to do four well than five averagely/badly.
Reply 2
Shall I drop the EPQ then? The school managed to convince me saying it would set me apart from other candidates or is that just a load of rubbish?
It's not worth it. It's more about what and how highly you're predicted that help your university application in that respect. Also, the workload is tremendous for those subjects with Maths and Chemistry being highest, followed by biology, followed by Economics & Business in my opinion. Getting high (predicted) grades in those will be more than enough I think to strengthen your application.
Reply 4
Original post by Saucy Carrot
It's not worth it. It's more about what and how highly you're predicted that help your university application in that respect. Also, the workload is tremendous for those subjects with Maths and Chemistry being highest, followed by biology, followed by Economics & Business in my opinion. Getting high (predicted) grades in those will be more than enough I think to strengthen your application.


Okay! I think I'll drop the EPQ. I do aim to work very hard of course but if doing well in those other 4 subjects is all that is required that is all I will do! Did you do sciences and maths too
Uhm, you can easily do the EPQ during your next Summer, that's when most people do it o.o just saying, it's not really compulsory to do it now..
But it does set you apart and can often be a good conversational piece during a Uni interview
Reply 6
[Kanye voice] No one man can put in all those hours.

Personally I don't think it's worth it considering you only really require 3, so 5 in my thinking would jeopardise your ability to do your best. But if you can handle it, dang, go for it.
Reply 7
Don't bother with the EPQ. At the most, do 4 A2s. 4AS and 3A2s is usually a smarter move though.
Original post by SelinaUchiha
Okay! I think I'll drop the EPQ. I do aim to work very hard of course but if doing well in those other 4 subjects is all that is required that is all I will do! Did you do sciences and maths too


I did the Chemistry, Biology and Economics but not Maths. My friend did both Chemistry and Maths and she thought Chemistry was more difficult. I can tell you that Chemistry was a pain in the backside relative to Biology and Economics.

EDIT: ...it was a pain in the backside relative to any A level.
(edited 10 years ago)
I know my A levels were completely different but after I screwed up my AS levels I dropped my EPQ to focus on A2s and resits. Didn't hinder my application at all. I took 4 AS dropped maths and so was on 3 A2 and managed to get into Warwick. While I would say that the EPQ would definitely look good, your A levels should take priority. If you're doing 5 it would be a needless addition. 4 is enough in my opinion.
Reply 10
Original post by SelinaUchiha
Shall I drop the EPQ then? The school managed to convince me saying it would set me apart from other candidates or is that just a load of rubbish?


I'd drop EPQ yes. Not a load of rubbish but I wouldn't do it along with the courses you're doing purely because of the workload.
Reply 11
EPQ is quite easy, you could easily finish it in 2 days, say start Friday night and end on Sunday evening, doing an all-nighter perhaps and pulling off an A*.

The point of doing it is to show university that you are independent thinker and can research on your own, among other things. Some people, who aim for lower unis (which often offers ucas tarrif points offers, and not grades subject wise) do it to make sure they get enough points. I had a lot of people like that in my class. I was doing it for AQA baccalaureate which is another reason to do it, and is compulsory for it. Also if you didn't do too much work experience, haven't done a lot of independent work/practice which you could write about in personal statement it would be good for you to do it since it would show you have independent interest in the subject, if you do your epq related to the course you want to study of course.

In my first year I did 4 as-levels and epq as well, alongside some work for aqa baccalaureate hours. And since you will finish maths in first year, it will be like dropping a subject in 2nd year, you will only have to do 3 since you will be done with maths, unless you will want a resit, but hopefully you won't. And EPQ isn't for 2 years, not even a year, maximum, at least in my college it was for half a year, but if you can finish it in a week then you can be done in a week. So if you finish it in september or october it won't affect your preparation for exams. Oh.. I forgot that January exams were scraped, well you have some time then, imo its not too much of a workload, if you get it done when you have time in the beginning of the year

If you wonder, I did maths, further maths, chemistry and computing and epq in my first year. I finished college now, wil lbe going to uni in September.
(edited 10 years ago)
Reply 12
Original post by Miyata
EPQ is quite easy, you could easily finish it in 2 days, say start Friday night and end on Sunday evening, doing an all-nighter perhaps and pulling off an A*.

The point of doing it is to show university that you are independent thinker and can research on your own, among other things. Some people, who aim for lower unis (which often offers ucas tarrif points offers, and not grades subject wise) do it to make sure they get enough points. I had a lot of people like that in my class. I was doing it for AQA baccalaureate which is another reason to do it, and is compulsory for it. Also if you didn't do too much work experience, haven't done a lot of independent work/practice which you could write about in personal statement it would be good for you to do it since it would show you have independent interest in the subject, if you do your epq related to the course you want to study of course.

In my first year I did 4 as-levels and epq as well, alongside some work for aqa baccalaureate hours. And since you will finish maths in first year, it will be like dropping a subject in 2nd year, you will only have to do 3 since you will be done with maths, unless you will want a resit, but hopefully you won't. And EPQ isn't for 2 years, not even a year, maximum, at least in my college it was for half a year, but if you can finish it in a week then you can be done in a week. So if you finish it in september or october it won't affect your preparation for exams. Oh.. I forgot that January exams were scraped, well you have some time then, imo its not too much of a workload, if you get it done when you have time in the beginning of the year

If you wonder, I did maths, further maths, chemistry and computing and epq in my first year. I finished college now, wil lbe going to uni in September.



See the way you put it is different from what everyone else has said. You make it sound 'doable'. I was thinking to do it very early on before January 2014 so that the EPQ is out of the way..not suure when it has to be submitted but if there are any improvements I need to make to it, I could do it quickly until the deadline time. I don't ever leave things to the last minute. However, as everyone has said that Unis only require 3A levels Id be over doing it. I do aim for a very stronf uni application as I'm hoping to do Optometry at Birmingham Uni. So I don't know now. Your opinion and advice has shone a new light on what I should do now. A lot of people have said that it's not worth it but if the EPQ isn't going to eat too mucj into my time and doesn't hinder my revision for other subjects it might be okay.

I don't know anymore:s-smilie:

And seen as you did Maths, Further Maths and Chemistry I'm sure you must have been swaped with work. If you don't mind me asking, how did you do in your GCSEs. That might hwlp give an idea on whether I could do it. (:
Reply 13
Original post by SelinaUchiha
See the way you put it is different from what everyone else has said. You make it sound 'doable'. I was thinking to do it very early on before January 2014 so that the EPQ is out of the way..not suure when it has to be submitted but if there are any improvements I need to make to it, I could do it quickly until the deadline time. I don't ever leave things to the last minute. However, as everyone has said that Unis only require 3A levels Id be over doing it. I do aim for a very stronf uni application as I'm hoping to do Optometry at Birmingham Uni. So I don't know now. Your opinion and advice has shone a new light on what I should do now. A lot of people have said that it's not worth it but if the EPQ isn't going to eat too mucj into my time and doesn't hinder my revision for other subjects it might be okay.

I don't know anymore:s-smilie:

And seen as you did Maths, Further Maths and Chemistry I'm sure you must have been swaped with work. If you don't mind me asking, how did you do in your GCSEs. That might hwlp give an idea on whether I could do it. (:


Well I just shared my experience, I found it doable without hindering my a-levels. To be honest, this year birmingham accepted like anyone, it seems very sketchy to me, for example my friend failed as-level maths, and was doing gcse english in 1st year so did 3 as-levels not 4, in 2nd year because failed maths he did 2 a-levels, computing and graphics with the btec financial studies.... No work experiece, nothing. in As-level didn't even get As for computing or graphics and birmingham gave him 2 a-level offer, AB. He got BC, and he still got accepted, automatically, didn't even have to beg or call them. I am happy for him because birmingham's CS course looks solid and it is very respetacble uni, it is ranked in top 10, closer to top 5 for computer science, but why accept someone with such grades? Seems so sketchy to me. He even got rejected for many worse unis, which are like in top 70 or so.

So yeah, it really depends on you, but I can say that there definitely will be a gap to do EPQ, at least there was for me.

In GCSEs I did a quite worse than you, more As than A*s compared to you. Same number of GCSEs. I moved from europe to UK at that time though so I only started getting into the program in like year 11 and doing most of my gcses then xD But still trust me, if you can pull off studying hardcore all the time, and especially like 2 months (well now that all exams are in summer maybe 3-4 months) beforehand, and leave your social life in those last months before exams alone then yeah you could handle it with no problem and go for top grades. However, let me say this, if you take off epq it won't ease your workload by much anyway. In my college it was only 1 hour per week lesson, and as I said if you wanted to you could've made a perfect research/project in less than a week.

You will be able to choose - 1,000 words essay + project of some kind, or 5,000 words essay. So if you would go for the project you could do it even now.
(edited 10 years ago)
Original post by SelinaUchiha
Sup guys!
Need help regarding A levels

Got my GCSE results yesterday & I got 10A*s and 3As . I applied at a Grammar School and have a place however I will be doing Maths, Chemistry, Biology, Economics&Business (combined) and an EPQ.

Now I've already done AS Maths and got an A. So hopefully that'll finish off nicely in year 12 but is there any point in me doing the EPQ? For people who have already done it has it helped you with University Applications or is getting the compulsory grades enough?

BTW. I''m looking to do Optometry

A Levels are hard. Finish off Maths in the first year with three others, then, if you still want to, begin the fifth. Any science and Maths are really hard subjects to do, regardless of how good your GCSEs are. Don't overwork yourself.
Reply 15
The EPQ is nowhere near the workload of a full extra AS, so feel free to take it. You do it during the summer after AS, usually, so it doesn't increase your workload when you're busy with your other subjects. I'm finding it quite fun.

Also, I did almost exactly the same subjects as you, except my economics was just straight economics, and I'd say that although you really do have to work hard it wasn't impossible. Just do all the homework, listen + contribute in class and revise well in advance. If you have any more questions about the subjects/subject combo, I'm happy to answer more questions!
Reply 16
Original post by Miyata
Well I just shared my experience, I found it doable without hindering my a-levels. To be honest, this year birmingham accepted like anyone, it seems very sketchy to me, for example my friend failed as-level maths, and was doing gcse english in 1st year so did 3 as-levels not 4, in 2nd year because failed maths he did 2 a-levels, computing and graphics with the btec financial studies.... No work experiece, nothing. in As-level didn't even get As for computing or graphics and birmingham gave him 2 a-level offer, AB. He got BC, and he still got accepted, automatically, didn't even have to beg or call them. I am happy for him because birmingham's CS course looks solid and it is very respetacble uni, it is ranked in top 10, closer to top 5 for computer science, but why accept someone with such grades? Seems so sketchy to me. He even got rejected for many worse unis, which are like in top 70 or so.

So yeah, it really depends on you, but I can say that there definitely will be a gap to do EPQ, at least there was for me.

In GCSEs I did a quite worse than you, more As than A*s compared to you. Same number of GCSEs. I moved from europe to UK at that time though so I only started getting into the program in like year 11 and doing most of my gcses then xD But still trust me, if you can pull off studying hardcore all the time, and especially like 2 months (well now that all exams are in summer maybe 3-4 months) beforehand, and leave your social life in those last months before exams alone then yeah you could handle it with no problem and go for top grades. However, let me say this, if you take off epq it won't ease your workload by much anyway. In my college it was only 1 hour per week lesson, and as I said if you wanted to you could've made a perfect research/project in less than a week.

You will be able to choose - 1,000 words essay + project of some kind, or 5,000 words essay. So if you would go for the project you could do it even now.


wow o.O I don't know what to say about your friend, happy that he got in but that is super sketchy o.O. I still aim for it but if I do really well in my A levels then I might even try going for Oxford or Cambridge but that seems a bit far fetched.

Idm studying, quite enjoy it. I started a month/ 6weeks earlier for GCSEs so idm putting in extra effort for AS and A2. Giving up a social life for a bit won't bother me much because it'll hopefully be worth it in the end!(:

i think I will do the EPQ however I just got an induction pack from the school i applied for and it says I'm doing Further Maths AS not EPQ! Think I'm going with the EPQ. Although I love maths, doing crap loads of units in the summer will kill me! If Jan exams were still in place then I'd have done it. AND I'd be doing Maths A2 and Further Maths AS so it would be a mess!

My current AS teacher said I'd be bored if I don't do Further Maths. You did it didn't you? How did you find it? I don't think I'll be doing it though but still good to know.

Thank You for all your help and advice btw (:
Reply 17
Original post by SelinaUchiha
Sup guys!
Need help regarding A levels

Got my GCSE results yesterday & I got 10A*s and 3As . I applied at a Grammar School and have a place however I will be doing Maths, Chemistry, Biology, Economics&Business (combined) and an EPQ.

Now I've already done AS Maths and got an A. So hopefully that'll finish off nicely in year 12 but is there any point in me doing the EPQ? For people who have already done it has it helped you with University Applications or is getting the compulsory grades enough?

BTW. I''m looking to do Optometry


I did a maths-related EPQ. No, it didn't help me with university applications, and a couple of my unis even explicitly stated that they wouldn't accept it (though some unis do include it in their offer). But I didn't care, because I was researching and writing about something I genuinely enjoyed, and it was one of the few things I could do academically without the pressure of performing well. Do it if you think it'd intellectually stimulate you, not because you think it might help you with your application.
Reply 18
Original post by StrangeSpark
A Levels are hard. Finish off Maths in the first year with three others, then, if you still want to, begin the fifth. Any science and Maths are really hard subjects to do, regardless of how good your GCSEs are. Don't overwork yourself.


Wait so I should still do it in the first year but AFTER everything else? Can I do that? And wouldn't that be leaving things to the last minute? I hate doing that :/

And I have heard from EVERYONE about how hard A levels are but they're certainly not impossible. Yes, you are right by saying that the sciences and maths are the toughest but I truly enjoy doing them and , from advice given, you should do subjects you enjoy.

You're right though, I don't want to over work myself T_T
you're obviously very, very clever! I would probably leave thinking about doing an EPQ until the end of lower 6, I was advised to only do it if I was applying to a university that based their applications on UCAS points (E.G. not usually a Russel Group uni) therefore, obviously for you with you're outstanding GCSE's would be pretty useless tbh, it would give you something to talk about at an interview but an EPQ seems to be a common thing and therefore wouldn't set you apart from many other people. However if you pick a subject you really enjoy for it and you have a good work ethic then I don't see the problem, and it should be really enjoyable for you

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